Leading Swiss Forex Broker MIG BANK Obtains Securities Dealer License
- MIG BANK, was the First Forex Broker to Obtain a Swiss Banking Licence at the End of 2009
- New Licence Will Allow MIG BANK to Pursue Strong Growth and Offer Additional Services Such as Futures and Options
- Further Expansion Planned in Switzerland
MIG BANK, the first Forex broker to have obtained a Swiss banking license in December 2009, has announced today it has been granted the Securities Dealer Licenseby the FINMA, the Swiss Financial Market Regulatory Authority. Since its foundation in 2003, MIG BANK has been offering online Forex trading services to private and institutional clients and has become, within a short period, one of the global leaders in the area of online Forex trading.
Swiss financial institutions are required to have the Securities Dealer License in order to offer securities trading facilities other than FX, and this license now allows MIG BANK to expand its products portfolio and increase and diversify its trading volumes and revenues to products such as commodities, indices, options, futures, bonds and equities.

Swiss largest online broker has just published their 2010 results. Even though a 40 percent decrease in profits vs. 2009 - blamed mostly to the acquisition of Advanced Currency Markets SA and Tradejet - the firm highlighted a high increase in revenue generated in the 4th quarter, once acquisitions started to leave their toll.

From Swissquote press release, there is one paragraph to highlight here:

“Trading results, in which the eForex business predominates, expanded disproportionately by
58.1 percent to CHF 29.0 million (CHF 18.3 million) thanks to organic growth and the acquisition of
ACM on 26 October. In the 4th quarter, trading results rose by 129.2 percent. eForex trading volumes rose to CHF 185.4 billion (CHF 77.2 billion) in 2010 and are forecast to grow to about CHF 550 billion in 2011. On the basis of this development, the trading business will account for at least 40 percent of total revenues in future. This will substantially reduce dependence on the commission business.”

Swissquote revenues exceed CHF 100 million
In 2010 overall revenues rose by 6.1 percent year-to-date to CHF 104.6 million (CHF 98.6 million) – revenues increased by 41.3 percent in the 4th quarter alone. Operating expenses rose by 24.5 percent to CHF 70.7 million (CHF 56.8 million). Net profit amounted to CHF 21.2 million. Thanks to solid growth of 19.2 percent in client numbers to 172,091 and the associated record inflows of CHF 1.477 billion in new monies, assets under custody exceeded CHF 8 billion for the first time. In 2011, Swissquote has set itself the target of growing revenues by approx. 50 percent and assets under custody by CHF 2 billion.

SEC Files a Lawsuit Against Jason Beckman, Responsible Of Raising $47 of $147M In Victims Fraud. Only About $23M Was Ever Sent To Crown Forex S.A
By Forexstreet.net
Some new interesting information about this bunch of thieves that were involved with deceased Crown Forex S.A as Trevor Cook, Jason Beckman, his wife Hollie Beckman and Oxford Private Client Group LLC.
Once again, I want to thank Elan Mendel, Associate at THE SHIPKEVICH LAW FIRM, to update me about the situation of Crown Forex S.A.
Elan states: “Yesterday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit in the District of Minnesota against Jason Beckman, his wife Hollie Beckman, and Oxford Private Client Group, LLC (Oxford PCG). According to the Complaint in the lawsuit, Beckman played a significant role in the fraud perpetrated against investors by Trevor Cook and his associates. In fact, Beckman raised almost 25% of the funds invested with Cook, $47.3 of the $194 million in victim funds. The SEC alleges that “from September 2006 to April 2009, the Beckmans received approximately $7.8 million from accounts containing the investors’ funds. They used the funds to pay for million-dollar homes, luxury cars, foreign travel, country-club expenses, a suite at professional hockey games, and other trappings of a high-end lifestyle.”

Any Distribution To US Victims Will Be Pennies On The Dollar Says Shipkevich Law Firm
By Francesc Riverola at FXstreet.com
I’ve recently been very much in contact with Elan Mendel and Felix Shipkevich at Shipkevich Law Firm as they are collaborating with us to create a regulatory comparative table that will give traders a better picture of the different law requirements to create a Forex Broker in the most active Forex countries such the US, UK, Switzerland, Cyprus, Japan…

Hi everyone

Christmas break is driving our beta Forexstreet.net Social Site to new all-time highs. While numbers of the rest of FXstreet Network heavily plunge - the week from Christmas to new year’s eve is traditionally the worst week of the year - Forexstreet.net gathered a lot of steam on Tuesday and rose quickly to 535 unique visitors, 657 visits and 3,117 page views. In terms of unique visitors and visits, those figures represent new all-time highs.

A very nice surprise

Francesc

note: here you have a very nice article Michael Greenberg wrote yesterday about Forex social sites. Enjoy it!

Forex social network – not just a buzzword anymore
By Michael Greenberg at Forex Magnates
Forex social networks which were first introduced to us by the likes of Currensee back in 2009 no longer just have the cool factor alone, they’re actually something useful and business worthy. The forex social market is growing at an astonishing pace (most of the networks have not been made public yet) and just like retail forex made it into the mainstream it would be hard to visualize forex trading two years from now without a social aspect.

Cook’s chats with Swiss investigator irk judge
The Ponzi schemer spent three days talking about a Swiss case but didn’t inform a local judge.
By DAN BROWNING, Minneapolis Star Tribune
Here’s some advice for Trevor Cook, the Minneapolis money manager who has admitted to bilking investors in a $190 million Ponzi scheme:
If you expect to clear the contempt citation that’s been adding jail time to your prison sentence, don’t have any more out-of-town visitors without first telling the court.
It seems that a Swiss magistrate judge spent three days interviewing Cook last month about the currency trades he placed through a bankrupt Swiss firm called Crown Forex SA. But no one told Cook’s court-appointed receiver about the interviews until a week after the magistrate left town.
___________________________

Stay tuned for more info about Crown Forex S.A bankruptcy joining our group of victims at

http://www.forexstreet.net/group/crownforexvictimsgroup

PRESS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 1st 2010

As of October 26^th, 2010 - ACM Advanced Currency Markets was acquired by Swissquote Bank Ltd (http://www.swissquote.ch).

ACM now operates under Swissquote’s banking license and will benefit from Swissquote’s good reputation, solid balance sheet and healthy profitability.

The transaction benefitted both parties as ACM was able to join Switzerland’s largest online bank and Swissquote gained a great foothold in the global FX market.

We look forward to working with Swissquote in the future as the synergy between both companies will bring new products and services to both Swissquote and ACM clients.

Swissquote’s shares are listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange, symbol: SQN.

For more information or for a free software trial, visit ac-markets.com

www.ac-markets.com

Swissquote acquires ACM and massively expands forex business
Swissquote Bank Ltd. has acquired ACM Advanced Currency Markets AG with effect from
October 26, 2010. The parties have agreed not to disclose the acquisition price. ACM is
headquartered in Geneva and has branches in Zurich and Dubai. With a headcount of around
100 employees, it is one of the world’s largest forex trading companies. ACM has achieved
revenues of CHF 27 million in the first nine month of 2010.
A transaction benefiting everyone involved
The acquisition of privately owned ACM by Swissquote is an astute forward-looking solution that
benefits all parties concerned. The takeover and subsequent merger with Swissquote Bank allows
ACM, which does not hold a banking license, to continue operating in forex trading. Since it was
founded in 2002, ACM has made a name for itself on the international markets by offering forex trading
free of commission fees at the lowest spreads with guaranteed order execution. The takeover will not
change anything for ACM’s clients since the existing platform and attractive conditions remain in place.
But they will benefit from Swissquote’s good reputation, solid balance sheet, healthy profitability and,
above all, from the banking license it has held since 2000. FINMA approves the takeover and will
monitor integration, which is to be completed in the coming months.
Swissquote_Acquires_ACM

Ponzi scheme leads feds to Jordan
Shadi Swais, the CEO of a failed Swiss foreign currency trading firm, speaks publicly for the first time about its connections with convicted Ponzi schemer Trevor Cook.
By DAN BROWNING, Minneapolis Star Tribune

A Swiss foreign exchange firm that figured prominently in the collapse of Trevor Cook’s $190 million Ponzi scheme was started by a former Jordanian limo driver and run by another Jordanian who has returned to his old job — running a grocery store near Amman.

Federal investigators and a court-appointed receiver following the money trail have turned their attention to the two of them, along with a colleague in Alexandria, Va., who owns an inert foreign exchange business and a limousine service near Washington, D.C.

Cook pumped millions of dollars through Crown Forex SA in a failed effort to save the firm, which Swiss regulators closed in May 2009, precipitating the collapse of Cook’s massive Ponzi scheme. Forensic accountants have pieced together banking and business records, but tens of millions of dollars remain unaccounted for, and federal authorities and a court-appointed receiver are trying to untangle where the money went.

Hi everyone

Yesterday I published here the shocking news appeared at The Tribune de Genève that Switzerland’s Financial Authority FINMA had denied the banking license to ACM (Advanced Currency Markets) probably the oldest and bigger retail Forex broker in the country.

FINMA Denies Banking License To ACM. ACM Takes The Decision To Court

I put myself immediately in contact with ACM management to look for any official statement they may had that would shed some light on all this.

Here you have ACM’s official statement about all this:

ACM – Sept 2010

ACM, Advanced Currency Markets, is still undergoing the process to become a Swiss bank.

Recent press articles surrounding ACM’s status have evoked events that took place several months ago. Following FINMA’s preliminary review as of December 2009, ACM was found not to satisfy all the requirements for Swiss bank status due in part to impediments arising from ACM’s cross-continental and cross-jurisdictional, global presence.

Since that time, the firm has effectively adhered to all banking regulation required by FINMA and its activities continue without restriction.

ACM has and continues to work closely with the regulator and has taken all necessary measures to resolve outstanding issues. An independent 2010 audit confirmed that the firm fully complies and fulfills all necessary requirements – be they structural, organization or financial - for its banking license.

ACM is confident in the positive resolution of this case and optimistic about the company’s future.

In the interim, the largest retail Forex broker in Europe continues normal business operations and trading.

ACM recently launched a new Web-based trading system as well as added several new features to its revamped homepage.

www.ac-markets.com